They Leave You Breathless

Not satisfied with two bronze medals four years ago in Athens, U.S. synchronized swimmers have looked to the circus for help.

Xiaohong Weng of the circus school in San Francisco was brought on board to perfect their lifts and throws. Stephan Miermont of Cirque du Soleil in Quebec became a coach and choreographer. The hope is that the two can help U.S. synchro swimmers inch even closer to the front- running Russians.

"Primarily, the work with the circus school is to improve our basic acrobatic skills," co-captain Kim Probst said. "In Russia and some other countries, swimmers probably grow up learning the basics first, whether it's classical ballet or gymnastics, and then synchro second.

"We got a late start. What we really needed to do was refine our basic acrobatic skills, learn the basic handstands, get more strength with our body weight, generate more power."

In their partnership in the water, Probst is the thrower and Annabelle Orme is the flier. Probst provides the power on lifts and throws and Orme the height and extension.

"We do a lot of base work where I stand on the shoulders of either Kim or (co-captain) Kate Hooven," Orme said. "I have to make sure I get the full push they give me. (The lift) is mostly me, but they give me the support I need."

Orme also spends a lot of time on the trampoline. Until her training routine changed a few months ago as the syncho swimmers peaked for Beijing, Probst spent lots of time in the weight room.

"The second most-important thing we do is to simulate on land the exact lifts we do in the water," Probst said. "We use the harness and other apparatus so it's not so dangerous."

This young team has no Olympic experience, but it has already seen sharp improvements. The U.S. won gold medals in both duet and team events at the Pan-American Games last year, and it shook up the synchro world when it upset the top-ranked Russians with its free combination performance at the 2006 FINA World Trophy Cup. It was the first time Russia had been beaten in a team or combo event since the '96 Games in Atlanta.

"When you're working at something that you get better at very slowly, you don't notice much improvement," Probst said. "Right before we left the country, I watched a video of us. It was like, ‘Oh, my God. We are so much better."'

So, is their choreography, thanks to Miermont and his Cirque du Soleil training.

"He never follows the unwritten rules of synchronized swimming or limits our choreography," Probst said. "He's always willing to think outside the box. He never settles for just another synchro routine. He's always looking for something a little more exciting. He helped us get that little edge we needed."

In Orme's eyes, "He made our routines unique, something we were missing. We now have one of the most special routines out there."

Christina Jones and Andrea Nott are so excited about their new duet free routine that Miermont choreographed, they can hardly wait to show it off on Tuesday. They finished fifth in the duet technical routine on Monday when the 24 teams performed nine required elements.

"We took a huge risk as a duet because we purposely put in difficult moves that weren't required before and after each element which added to the difficulty even more," Jones said. "Hopefully, it pays off."

A change from normalcy already has. Jones is one of three synchronized swimmers in the world who doesn't use a clip on her nose.

"I think it's harder to swim with a nose clip," Jones said. "It makes it harder for me to breath. So, I discovered a little technique.

I plug my nose with my upper lip like this."

Jones then demonstrated how she can seal her nostrils.

"Another thing that inspired me to do it was when I got my nose pierced," she said. "The nose clip got in the way a lot."

Nott is more orthodox and swims with the nose clip, rather than swim without it. "I can't do that lip thing," she said. "I've got the wrong shaped lip, I guess."

The score from their technical routine on Monday will be worth 50 percent of the total after today's free routine when the top 12 duets advance to the finals Wednesday.

"Not only are the points important, but it makes an impression on the judges," said Nott, an Olympic alternate four years ago. "Since we have subjective scoring, the judges' impression is really important."

Jones and Nott think their free routine on Tuesday will impress judges even more.

"We're really excited to show the world our free program," Jones said. "We're very proud of our product, how much we've improved and what we're bringing to the table. Our free program is completely off the wall, like nothing ever done in synchro swimming before."